1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reel device, more particularly to a reel device having a cable guiding unit that is capable of maintaining a cable in a tensed state and of guiding the cable such that the cable can be wound without tangling with itself.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional reel device 1 which includes a housing 11, a spool 12 journalled in the housing 11, and a cable 13 wound on the spool 12. The cable 13 has a distal end that extends out of the housing 11 via a rear opening 110 of the latter. The spool 12 is coupled to a drive source via a speed-reduction gear set 14. To unwind the cable 13 from the spool 12, the distal end of the cable 13 is pulled away from the rear opening 110 of the housing 11. On the other hand, when it is desired to wind the cable 13 on the spool 12, the drive source is activated to cause rotation of the spool 12 in a direction for winding the cable 13 thereon. It is found that the cable 13 could tangle with itself during winding on the spool 12 in the case the cable 13 is in a loose and non tensioned state. This prevents smooth unwinding of the cable 13 when the cable 13 is to be subsequently unwound from the spool 12. Referring to FIG. 2, when the cable 13 is connected to a heavy object, such as a car 2, and is wound to pull the car 2 to move along a downward slope on an uneven ground surface, the speed of the car 2 could be faster than the rate in which the cable 13 is wound on the spool. At this time, the cable 13 will be in a loose and non-tensioned state.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a reel device having a cable guiding unit that is capable of maintaining a cable in a tensed state and of guiding the cable such that the cable can be wound without tangling with itself.
Accordingly, the reel device of the present invention includes a housing, a spool, a cable guiding unit, and a cable. The housing has a pair of spaced-apart lateral side walls and a cable winding space formed between the lateral side walls. The cable winding space ha.3 a rear opening. The spool is disposed transversely between the lateral side walls, and is mounted rotatably on the side walls. The cable guiding unit is mounted on the housing, and is disposed in the cable winding space adjacent to the rear opening. The cable is wound on the spool, and has a distal end extending rearwardly through the cable guiding unit. The cable guiding unit includes a cable engaging member which is operable to move between an engaging position, in which the cable guiding unit applies a friction force on the cable so as to retard movement of the cable relative to the cable guiding unit, and a disengaging position, in which the friction force is released such that the cable guiding unit ceases to retard movement of the cable relative to the cable guiding unit.